Rocket, Flying Model Kit, Astrobee 350

This is an unassembled Astrobee 350 flying rocket model built by Centuri Engineering. It is based on the sounding rocket of the same name developed by the U.S. Air Force in the early 1960s. The model has a pasteboard body, balsa nosecone and fins, and a plastic parachute. A solid propellant rocket motor propels the model, and then at the end of the vertical flight it forces the release of a parachute. The model is then retrieved and can be used again. Not included in this kit are the motor, the launch controller that is used to ignite the motor, and the launch pad from which the model is launched. This model was donated by G. Harry Stine, one of the American pioneers in the hobby of flying models.